Notes on Designing, Building and Operating Model Railroads

With the holidays over and winter settling in, I’ve been trying to organize the spare room to set up a workbench and test track. It’s a tough puzzle as five boxes need to move before I can move some other boxes into the space the five boxes were sitting. If I move too many boxes, then I have a hard time weaving through the narrow openings to the door. I’ve already moved a couple of the boxes out to the storage barn, but the space is tight. I received a couple of emails to offer a welcome break from the unending movement of boxes. My friend John in Ohio is wrapping up room prep on his new 12×22 foot layout space and wanted some suggestions for the area. I enjoy a good trackplanning challenge! The image above was taken on his old layout.

(more…)

   REPOST: originally posted in July 2010.

A recent summer weekday was spent in a library, specifically, the special collections room of the Cleveland State University Library. Upon entering, my eyes were drawn to several large images of Cleveland’s past and a large collection of O scale model trolleys positioned atop a long shelving unit. This is really one cool joint. Among the railroad archives collected here are documents from the Nickel Plate, Erie-Lackawanna, Wheeling & Lake Erie, and the Newburgh & South Shore. I went in search of W&LE maps and N&SS images. I did not find those specific items, but I did find and review W&LE images and N&SS maps. Reviewing these items were well worth the time.

(more…)